Fantasy Baseball Rest-of-Season Rankings: Scott Pianowski's updated risers and fallers as of May 26

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Every week, we check in and update the rest-of-season MLB rankings. Use them however you like — for team self-scouting, for trade ideas, for spirited debate or a start-from-scratch fantasy baseball draft.

Let’s have a look at some of the risers and fallers; the player values are never static, even if it feels like chasing a butterfly at times.

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Adley Rutschman, C, Orioles: The two down seasons had me worried, catching all the Matt Wieters vibes. But Rutschman is healthy again and crushing, maintaining excellent plate discipline skills while bumping up his hard-hit profile. The bat speed is also trending upward, and his expected stats support the front-door numbers.

In what’s been a messy year for catchers, it’s good to have a productive Rutschman back in our lineups.

Aroldis Chapman, SP, Red Sox: When Chapman turned in a career-best season at age 37, a lot of pundits scoffed and dared him to do it again. Hey, he just might. Chapman’s strikeouts are down slightly and the walk rate has ticked up a little, but he remains very difficult to hit and basically impossible to homer off. The fastball is also down a beat, but 97.5 mph from a left-hander is a coveted thing. Few things have gone right in Boston this year, but at least Chapman can still keep those ninth-inning leads preserved.

Kyle Schwarber, OF, Phillies: Schwarber is never going to be a WAR darling because he has no defensive value, but he might have a shot at 500 homers. He’s leading the NL in taters for the third time in five years, and his 163 OPS+ is a career high. All of the hard-hit stats stump for Schwarber, and his batting average is no longer a major fantasy drain. He was the perfect second-round pick all along, but you might need to take him in Round 1 in a redraft.

Ernie Clement, UTIL, Blue Jays: Sometimes you have to appreciate a throwback, and Clement is one of those guys. He rarely walks, he swings at almost anything, and he doesn’t hit the ball especially hard. And yet there he is with a .299/.324/.441 slash, playing every day and covering four infield positions. He might struggle to get past 10 homers and he only steals the occasional base, so there’s a capped upside with Clement. But he’s the perfect player for a mixed-league bench, ready to go for those shorter Monday and Thursday slates.

Casey Schmitt, Utility, Giants: Here’s another player who swings at almost anything but makes it work — Schmitt has a modest strikeout rate and also has a decent hard-hit profile. His expected stats support his fast start — .278 expected average, .522 expected slugging.

Schmitt opened the year in the bottom third of the lineup but he’s been the dedicated No. 3 man for most of May. It’s fun when the success stories come out of nowhere.

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Note that Schmitt added outfield eligibility this week, to go with three infield spots.

JJ Bleday, OF, Reds: Perhaps we should be more open-minded to Bleday’s breakout, given that he was the fourth overall pick in the 2019 draft and he’s still just 28. He’s mostly used as a RHP crusher, with a .275/.383/.638 slash in the platoon advantage (six homers, 12 walks in 69 at-bats). If you can work the schedule, note that Bleday also gets a 152-point OPS boost in the cozy Cincinnati ballpark.

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Bailey Ober, SP, Twins: It might seem strange to downgrade a starting pitcher with a credible 3.92 ERA and 1.097 WHIP, but Ober’s been performing over his head — his FIP checks in at 4.49. It’s strange to see a pitcher of his size (6-foot-9) throwing a fastball below average velocity, and this year the heater checks in at a piddly 88.5 mph, down 1.8 mph from last year.

He’s always been somewhat homer-prone, his strikeouts have been below code for two years and even the walks are rising this season. I don’t trust Ober to stay in the mixed-league conversation.

Jack Flaherty, SP, Tigers: There are plenty of reasons for Detroit’s poor 2026 start, with Flaherty near the top of the list. His walk rate is bloated, his swinging-strike rate is down almost two percent, and he’s getting the lowest ground-ball rate of his career. And balls in play are no fun in Detroit, where the Tigers might have the worst defense in baseball.

Matt McLain, 2B, Reds: I wanted to be optimistic when McLain briefly got back into the leadoff spot for the Reds, but the appointment didn’t last. Despite a positive walk rate and good pitch-recognition skills, he’s down to a .198/.296/.326 slash and his hard-hit profile is mediocre. There’s a tiny bit of bad luck with the batted events, but a .230 expected average still doesn’t play when it’s tied to a .378 expected slugging. The Reds have plenty of infield options — and Noelvi Marte is crushing in the minors — so I wouldn’t be surprised if McLain lost his roster spot soon.